Pad encoding and decoding

ABSTRACT

A system, method and computer program product for encoding an input string of binary characters representing alphanumeric characters. A system includes: a character writing engine for writing a binary character to an empty cell of a multi-dimensional shape beginning with a starting empty cell; a next cell determination engine for determining a next empty cell by traversing neighboring cells in the multi-dimensional shape until an empty cell is located; a loop facilitator for looping back to the character writing engine and the next cell determining engine until no more data characters or a next empty cell is not determined; and a serialization engine for serializing the cells into a one dimensional binary string of characters representing an encoded string of alphanumeric characters.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for encoding anddecoding data. In particular the invention relates to a method andapparatus for encoding and decoding data using a two dimensional pad.

BACKGROUND

The trend for encoding and decoding text is to use ever more complexalgorithms. To this extent, increasing processing power is required toencode and decode. The logical consequence of this to use dedicatedhardware components but this still uses stringent computer resources(memory, computer processing cycles) and more powerful energy sources.

Mobile devices often have more constrained resources than a desktopcounterpart but often mobile applications only need a low level ofencoding. For instance, field sensors and actuators would benefit from asystem which presents a good trade-off between: reduced powerconsumption; computer resource; and security strength.

SUMMARY

In a first aspect, there is provided an encoding system, including: acharacter writing engine for writing a binary character to an empty cellof a multi-dimensional shape beginning with a starting empty cell; anext cell determination engine for determining a next empty cell bytraversing neighboring cells in the multi-dimensional shape until anempty cell is located; a loop facilitator for looping back to thecharacter writing engine and the next cell determining engine until nomore data characters or a next empty cell is not determined; and aserialization engine for serializing the cells into a one dimensionalbinary string of characters representing an encoded string ofalphanumeric characters.

In a second aspect, writing a binary character to an empty cell of amulti-dimensional shape beginning with a starting empty cell;determining a next empty cell by traversing neighboring cells in themulti-dimensional shape until an empty cell is located; looping back tothe writing character step and the determining next cell step until nomore data characters or a next empty cell is not determined; andserializing the multi-dimensional cells into a one dimensional binarystring of characters representing an encoded string of alphanumericcharacters.

In a third aspect, there is provided an encoding method, including:writing a binary character to an empty cell of a multi-dimensional shapebeginning with a starting empty cell; determining a next empty cell bytraversing neighboring cells in the multi-dimensional shape until anempty cell is located; looping back to the writing character step andthe determining next cell step until no more data characters or a nextempty cell is not determined; and serializing the multi-dimensionalcells into a one dimensional binary string of characters representing anencoded string of alphanumeric characters.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a decoding method, including:populating the cells of a multi-dimensional shape with the binarycharacters using a defined transform so that each populated cell isfull; reading a binary character from a current cell; writing the binarycharacter to an output string, and setting the current cell to empty;determining a next full cell by traversing from the current cell toadjacent cells in the multi-dimensional shape until a full cell islocated; looping back to the reading character step and the determiningnext cell step until no more data characters or a next full cell is notdetermined; and serializing the multi-dimensional cells into a onedimensional binary string of characters representing an encoded stringof alphanumeric characters.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program productincluding a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readableprogram code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program codeconfigured to perform an encoding method when executed by a computersystem, the method including: writing a binary character to an emptycell of a multi-dimensional shape beginning with a starting empty cell;determining a next empty cell by traversing neighboring cells in themulti-dimensional shape until an empty cell is located; looping back tothe writing character step and the determining next cell step until nomore data characters or a next empty cell is not determined; andserializing the multi-dimensional cells into a one dimensional binarystring of characters representing an encoded string of alphanumericcharacters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a deployment diagram according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a component diagram according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a flow diagram of a process of the encoding method accordingto an embodiment.

FIGS. 3B and 3C are flow diagrams of an example of the process of theencoding method according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4A is a flow diagram of a process of the decoding method accordingto an embodiment.

FIGS. 4B and 4C are flow diagrams of an example process of the decodingmethod according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5A is an example diagram of raw stream characters and coded streamcharacters.

FIG. 5B is an example diagram of initial parameters used to code theexample of FIG. 5A.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are state diagrams of an example pad as it is used tocode the raw stream to the coded stream of FIG. 5A.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are state diagrams of the example pad as it is used todecode the coded stream of FIG. 5B.

FIG. 8 is shape diagram of a honeycomb two dimensional shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the deployment of an embodiment in computerprocessing system 10 is described. Computer processing system 10 isoperational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing processing systems, environments, and/or configurations thatmay be suitable for use with computer processing system 10 include, butare not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems,thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed computing environments that includeany of the above systems or devices. A distributed computer environmentincludes a cloud computing environment for example where a computerprocessing system is a third party service performed by one or more of aplurality computer processing systems. A distributed computerenvironment also includes an Internet of things computing environmentfor example where a computer processing systems are distributed in anetwork of objects that can interact with a computing service.

Computer processing system 10 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer processor. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, and data structures thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.Computer processing system 10 may be embodied in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

The computer program product comprises a series of computer-readableinstructions either fixed on a tangible medium, such as a computerreadable medium, for example, optical disk, magnetic disk, solid-statedrive or transmittable to a computer system, using a modem or otherinterface device, over either a tangible medium, including but notlimited to optical or analogue communications lines, or intangibly usingwireless techniques, including but not limited to microwave, infrared orother transmission techniques. The series of computer readableinstructions embodies all or part of the functionality previouslydescribed.

Computer processing system 10 comprises: general-purpose computer server12 and one or more input devices 14 and output devices 16 directlyattached to the computer server 12. Computer processing system 10 isconnected to a network 20. Computer processing system 10 communicateswith a user 18 using input devices 14 and output devices 16. Inputdevices 14 include one or more of: a keyboard, a scanner, a mouse,trackball or another pointing device. Output devices 16 include one ormore of a display or a printer. Computer processing system 10communicates with network devices (not shown) over network 20. Network20 can be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or theInternet.

Computer server 12 comprises: central processing unit (CPU) 22; networkadapter 24; device adapter 26; bus 28 and memory 30.

CPU 22 loads machine instructions from memory 30 and performs machineoperations in response to the instructions. Such machine operationsinclude: incrementing or decrementing a value in a register;transferring a value from memory 30 to a register or vice versa;branching to a different location in memory if a condition is true orfalse (also known as a conditional branch instruction); and adding orsubtracting the values in two different registers and loading the resultin another register. A typical CPU can perform many different machineoperations. A set of machine instructions is called a machine codeprogram, the machine instructions are written in a machine code languagewhich is referred to a low level language. A computer program written ina high level language needs to be compiled to a machine code programbefore it can be run. Alternatively a machine code program such as avirtual machine or an interpreter can interpret a high level language interms of machine operations.

Network adapter 24 is connected to bus 28 and network 20 for enablingcommunication between the computer server 12 and network devices.

Device adapter 26 is connected to bus 28 and input devices 14 and outputdevices 16 for enabling communication between computer server 12 andinput devices 14 and output devices 16.

Bus 28 couples the main system components together including memory 30to CPU 22. Bus 28 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Memory 30 includes computer system readable media in the form ofvolatile memory 32 and non-volatile or persistent memory 34 which mayinclude, in one embodiment, read-only (ROM). Examples of volatile memory32 are random access memory (RAM) 36 and cache memory 38. Generallyvolatile memory is used because it is faster and generally non-volatilememory is used because it will hold the data for longer. Computerprocessing system 10 may further include other removable and/ornon-removable, volatile and/or non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, persistent memory 34 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically a magnetic hard disk or solid-state drive).Although not shown, further storage media may be provided including: anexternal port for removable, non-volatile solid-state memory; and anoptical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable,non-volatile optical disk such as a compact disk (CD), digital videodisk (DVD) or Blu-ray. In such instances, each can be connected to bus28 by one or more data media interfaces. As will be further depicted anddescribed below, memory 30 may include at least one program producthaving a set (for example, at least one) of program modules that areconfigured to carry out the functions of embodiments of the invention.

The set of program modules configured to carry out the functions of theembodiments described herein comprises pad encoding and decoding module200. In one embodiment, ROM in the memory 30 stores module 200 thatenables the computer server 12 to function as a special purpose computerspecific to the module 200. Further program modules that support theembodiments described herein but are not shown include firmware, bootstrap program, operating system, and support applications. Each of theoperating system, support applications, other program modules, andprogram data or some combination thereof, may include an implementationof a networking environment.

Computer processing system 10 communicates with at least one network 20(such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN),and/or a public network like the Internet) via network adapter 24.Network adapter 24 communicates with the other components of computerserver 12 via bus 28. It should be understood that although not shown,other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunctionwith computer processing system 10. Examples, include, but are notlimited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units,external disk drive arrays, redundant array of independent disks (RAID),tape drives, and data archival storage systems.

Referring to FIG. 2, pad encoding and decoding module 200 comprises thefollowing components: a register 202 for storing two dimensional shapedefinition data ; character reading and writing engine 204; next celldetermination engine 206; loop facilitator 208; serializationde-serialization engine 210; pad encoding method 300 and pad decodingmethod 400.

Register 202 is for storing two dimensional shape definition data thatis for defining the two dimensional shape used for the encoding anddecoding method.

Character reading and writing engine 204 is for reading characters fromand writing characters to the two dimensional shape.

Next cell determination engine 206 is for determining the next cell inthe two dimensional shape.

Loop facilitator 208 is for looping between the character reading andwriting engine 204 and the next cell determination engine 206.

Serialization de-serialization engine 210 is for serializing andde-serializing the two dimensional shape into and from serial data.

Pad encoding method 300 controls the main coding process.

Pad decoding method 400 controls the main decoding process.

Referring to FIG. 3A, pad encoding method 300 comprises logical processsteps 301 to 310 of an embodiment with corresponding logical processsub-steps 302.2 to 310.2 describing further detail of the embodimentwith respect to FIGS. 3B and 3C. Pad encoding method 300 starts when auser selects some text or data and then selects that encoding method 300be executed on the selected text.

Step 301 is for acquiring an input string of binary charactersrepresenting a string of alphanumeric characters.

Step 302 is for defining, in an initialization of the method, a twodimensional cellular shape having a defined cell initial position (IP)(a starting cell) and other starting parameters such an initialdirection (ID). In the embodiment, the shape of called a pad havingwidth of cells (pad width (PW) and height of cells (pad height (PD)). Anexample of this step is step 302.2.

Step 304 is for writing a binary character to an empty or idle cell inthe two dimensional shape initially at the cell initial position (IP).At the beginning of the process, all positions have a status

idle

and are turned

busy

once they are filled by an input bit. An example of this step is step304.2.

For example, a pad shaped two dimensional shape is filled bit by bit,following the sequence of input bits, starting with an initial position(IP) and an initial direction (ID). At each step, the nth input bit isfilled in the nth “Current Position” (CP) associated to a “CurrentDirection” (CD).

Step 306 is for determining the next idle cell and initially generallyfor looking for a condition in the input string whereby the currentdirection is to be changed, in the detailed embodiment the directionturns on one. An example of this step is step 306.2 to step 306.38.

For example, if the CP is filled by a “1”, then a “Turn Direction” (TD)is applied to the CD. After filling CP, the method searches for the nextCP being the first idle position following the CD (looping on padedge)—if it exists. If it does not exist (no idle cells or positions)then an

Escape Direction

(ED) is applied to CD, resuming to the previous logic. If still notfound, the next CP corresponds to the next idle position following theindex sequence with looping if needed.

Step 308 is for looping back to the writing a cell and determining nextcell steps until there are no more data cells or a next cell is notdetermined in a finite period.in which case the process moves to step310 to build a serialized output stream. An example of this step is step308.2 and 308.4.

Step 310 is for building an output stream and comprises step 310.2. Forexample, at the end of the process, all left idle positions are ignored(apply only if SS<PW*PH. The ciphered

Output String

(OS) is made by the sequence of pad rows.

Referring to FIGS. 3B and 3C example logical process steps 302.2 to310.2 of the embodiment are described.

Step 302.2 is for defining details of the two dimensional shapeincluding initial values for: initial position (IP); initial direction(ID); turn direction (TD); escape direction (ED); index table (IT) andstring size (SS). The input string (IS) is measured for a length and themeasurement value stored as

String Size

(SS). The pad dimension is specified by a

Pad Width

(PW) and a

Path Height

(PH). SS needs to be less than or equal to the numbers of cells in thetwo dimensional shape and in a rectangular shape having width and heightSS needs to be less than or equal to PW multiplied by PH. Each positionof the two dimensional shape is identified with an index specified in an

Index Table

(IT) Each position of the input string is indexed by n and the initialvalue of n is one. Next step 304.2.

Step 304.2 is for setting the value of the current position (CP) to theInput Strings nth character. The status of the current position CP isset from idle to busy.

Step 306.2 is for checking if the input string character IS(n) is “1”and moving to step 306.4 if so but step 306.6 and 306.8 if not. Theexample in the detail embodiment is a binary string but any number baseor string character can be used as long as there is a condition of thatallows for a change of direction.

Step 306.4 for changing the direction by adding a directional unit (inthis case TD) to the current direction (CD).

Step 306.6 is for searching for the next position and comprises steps306.8 to 306.14.

Step 306.8 is for setting a next position (NP) to the current position(CP).

Step 306.10 is for setting the next position as a function of theexisting next position and the current direction.

Step 306.12 is for checking if the next position status is idle andmoving to step 308.6 if so else branching to step 306.14.

Step 306.14 is for checking if the next position has reverted to thecurrent position and branching to step 306.16 and 306.18 if so elsebranching back to step 306.10

Step 306.16 is for escaping a turn for a busy line or column after a fewtoo many turns resulting in a continuous loop that would loop withoutfinding a new cell that is idle or not being used already. Step 306.16comprises steps 306.18 to 306.24.

Step 306.18 is for changing the current direction (CD) by an escapedirection (ED)

Step 306.20 is for changing the next position as a function of theposition and the current direction (having being changed by the extendeddirection).

Step 306.22 is for moving to step 308.6 if the next position is idleotherwise the method continues at step 306.24.

Step 306.24 is for branching to step 306.28 if the next position is thecurrent position checking otherwise method continues at step 306.18.

Step 306.26 is for further escaping a turn for a busy line or columnafter too many turns resulting in a continuous loop that wouldcontinuous loop without finding a new cell that is idle or not beingused already. Step 306.26 comprises three sub steps 306.28, 306.30 and306.32.

Step 306.28 is for setting a current index (CI) to a function of thecurrent position (CP) and the string size. For example, CI=1+CP·indexmod SS.

Step 306 30 is for branching to step 308.4 if the cell status for thecurrent index CI is idle otherwise the method continues at step 306.32.

Step 306.32 is for incrementing the current index and then looping backto step 306.28 to find a cell that is idle and ready for writing.

Step 306.34 is for updating the current position and comprising steps306.36 and 306.38.

Step 306.36 is for setting the current position to the cell with thecurrent index when the method passes from step 306.30. Next step 308.2

Step 306.38 is for setting the current position to the new position whenthe method passes from step 306.12 or step 306.22. Next step 308.2.

Step 308.2 is for branching to step 310.2 is the number of characters inthe string have been reached. Else step 308.4.

Step 308.4 is for incrementing character counter n. Next step 304.2.

Step 310.2 is for traversing through each cell in the two dimensionalshape in a predetermined order and writing the value of each cell to alinear output string (OS). For example, this can be represented byoutput string (i)=cell(index=i).value.

Referring to FIG. 4A pad decoding method 400 comprises logical processsteps 401 to 410 of the embodiment. Corresponding logical processsub-steps 402.2 to 410.2 describe an example of the embodiment withrespect to FIGS. 4B and 4C. Pad decoding method 400 starts when a userselects some text or data and then selects that pad decoding method 400be executed on the selected text.

Step 401 is for acquiring a binary input string of binary charactersrepresenting a coded string of alphanumeric characters.

Step 402 is for acquiring in an initialization of the method, a twodimensional shape in the embodiment called a pad having width of cells(pad width (PW) and height of cells (pad height (PD)). An example ofthis step is step 402.2.

Step 403 is for reading an output stream and for filling a twodimensional shape. An example of this step is step 403.2.

Step 404 is for reading a character to a cell in the two dimensionalshape initially at the initial position (IP). At the beginning of theprocess, all positions have a status

idle

and are turned

busy

once they are filled by an input bit. An example of this step is step404.2.

Step 406 is for determining the next cell and initially generally forlooking for a condition in the input string whereby the currentdirection is to be changed, in the detailed embodiment the directionturns on one. An example of this step are steps 406.2 to 406.38.

Step 408 is for looping back to the reading a cell and determining nextcell steps until there are no more data cells or a next cell is notdetermined in a finite period.in which case the process moves to step410 to build a serialized output stream. An example of this step aresteps 408.2 and 408.4.

Referring to FIGS. 4B and 4C example logical process steps 402.2 to414.4 of a more detailed embodiment is described.

Step 402.2 is for acquiring further detail of the two dimensional shape(for example a rectangular pad) including initial values for: initialposition (IP); initial direction (ID); turn direction (TD); escapedirection (ED); index table (IT) and string size (SS). The input string(IS) is measured for a length and the measurement value stored as

String Size

(SS). The pad dimension is specified by a

Pad Width

(PW) and a

Path Height

(PH). SS needs to be less than or equal to the numbers of cells in thetwo dimensional shape and in a rectangular shape having width and heightSS needs to be less than or equal to PW*PH. Each position of the twodimensional shape is identified with an index specified in an

Index Table

(IT) Each position of the input string is indexed by n and the initialvalue of n is one. Next step 403.2.

Step 403.2 is for reading each character in the output string (OS) andthen traversing through each cell in the two dimensional shape in apredetermined order and writing the character in the traversed cell. Forexample, this can be represented by Cell(index=i)=Outputstring(i).value. Next step 404.2.

Step 404.2 is for reading the value of the current position (CP) to theInput Strings nth character. The status of the current position CP isset from busy to idle. Next step 406.2.

Step 406.2 is for moving to step 406.4 if the input string characterIS(n) is one but otherwise step 406.6 and 406.8 if not. The example inthe detail embodiment is a binary string but any number base or stringcharacter can be used as long as there is a condition of that allows fora change of direction.

Step 406.4 for changing the direction by adding a directional unit (inthis case TD) to the current direction (CD). Next step 406.8.

Step 406.6 is for searching for the next position and comprises steps406.8 to 406.14.

Step 406.8 is for setting a next position (NP) to the current position(CP). Next step 406.10.

Step 406.10 is for setting the next position as a function of theexisting next position (NP) and the current direction (CD). Next step406.12.

Step 406.12 is for moving to step 406.36 if the next position status isbusy otherwise branching to step 406.14.

Step 406.14 is for branching to step 406.16 and 406.18 if the nextposition has reverted to the current position otherwise branching backto step 406.10.

Step 406.16 is for escaping a turn for a busy line or column after a fewtoo many turns result in a loop that would continuous turn withoutfinding a new cell that is idle or not being used already and comprisessteps 406.18 to 406.24.

Step 406.18 is for changing the current direction (CD) by an extendeddirection (ED). Next step 406.12.

Step 406.20 is for changing the next position as a function of theposition and the current direction (having being changed by the extendeddirection).

Step 406.22 is for moving to step 406.36 if the next position is busyotherwise the method continues at step 406.24.

Step 406.24 is for branching to step 406.28 if the next position is thecurrent position otherwise method continues at step 406.18.

Step 406.26 is for further escaping a turn for a busy line or columnafter too many turns still result in a loop that would continuous turnwithout finding a new cell that is idle or not being used already. Step406.26 comprises three sub steps 406.28, 406.30 and 406.32.

Step 406.28 is for setting a current index (CI) to a function of thecurrent position (CP) and the string size. For example, CI=1+CP·indexmod SS. Next step 406.30.

Step 406 30 is for branching to step 406.38 if the cell status for thecurrent index CI is idle otherwise the method continues at step 406.32.

Step 406.32 is for incrementing the current index and then looping backto step 406.28 to find a cell that is idle and ready for writing.

Step 406.34 is for updating the current position and comprising steps406.36 and 406.38.

Step 406.36 is for setting the current position to the new position whenthe method passes from step 406.30. Next step 408.2.

Step 406.38 is for setting the current position to the cell with thecurrent index when the method passes from step 406.12 or step 406.22.Next step 408.2.

Step 408.2 is for branching to step 408.4 if the number of characters inthe string have been reached otherwise step 408.6.

Step 408.4 is the end of decoding method 400.

Step 408.6 is for incrementing character counter n. Next step 404.2.

Referring to FIG. 5A, an example of a raw stream and a coded stream isdescribed. The raw stream can be seen on the left of the figure to be asequence of ascending numbers from 1 to F hexadecimal and 0000 to 1111in binary. To the right of the figure, a coded stream of numbers isshown in binary and in hexadecimal.

FIG. 5B is an example set of initial parameters used to code the exampleof FIG. 5A. Initial position (IP)=1; initial direction (ID)=east; turndirection (TD)=east; escape direction (ED)=east; pad width (PW)=8; padheight (PH)=8; and string size (SS)=64.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show states of an example pad as it is used to code theraw stream to the coded stream of the example of FIG. 5A. Sixteen padstates are shown numbered 1 to 16 . . . A compass points north on thepage. A two dimension shaped is defined as in FIG. 5B with pad width andpad height set at 8 cells.

The input string is a progression from 0 to 15 represented in binary asfollows.“000000010010001101000101011001111000100110101011110011011110111 1”

The 1^(st) pad state shows a mostly empty pad with a horizontal line of“0000” binary characters starting east from initial position 1 with acursor pointing east at the end of the line. This corresponds to writingthe first binary character of the binary number “0” on the pad startingat initial position (IP)=1 and moving in an initial direction of east(with north defined as straight up the pad as shown). The next cell isdetermined by parsing east to locate an idle cell to the east. Themethod loops back to the writing step whereby the 2^(nd) character “0”is written to an adjacent east cell. This is repeated two more times asidle cells are determined east and east again such that “0000” iswritten in a continuous line running east. The next idle cell is alsodetermined as east and the turn direction (TD) (see arrow in pad 1)remains set to east.

The 2^(nd) pad shows a horizontal blocked line of “0001” going east fourcells from the last position. This corresponds to writing the firstcharacter of the number “0001” on the pad starting at initial position(IP)=5 and moving in an initial direction of east. The next cell isdetermined by parsing east again and finding an idle cell directly tothe east. The method loops back to the writing step whereby the 2^(nd)character “0” is written to an adjacent easterly cell. This is repeatedtwo more times as idle cells are determined east and east again suchthat “0001” is written in a continuous line running east. However,searching for the first idle cell for the next sequence of binarycharacters is not started easterly because the last write was a “1” andthe example rule is to change direction clockwise on writing “1”(moreover there is a boundary). Therefore the TD direction (see arrow)is changed to south. (by incrementing a direction pointer) where thereis no boundary. Coincidently the edge of the boundary was reached andthe direction would have also changed clockwise in this example to avoidthe boundary.

The 3^(rd) pad shows binary characters “0010” traversing south threecells and west one cell (see FIG. 6B). This corresponds to writing thefirst, second and third characters of the string “0010” with thedirection set to south whereupon writing a 1 then incrementing thedirection to west. The next cells are determined by parsing and findingan idle cells in the direction of the parse. The method loops back tothe writing step whereby the 4^(th) character “0” is written to theadjacent westerly cell and the TD remains pointing west.

The 4^(th) pad shows binary characters “0011” written into idle cellstraversing west three cells, north one cell and changing TD to eastbecause the northern cell was busy.

The 5^(th) pad shows binary characters “01” written into two easterlyidle cells; incrementing TD to south because of a “1” character;skipping a single busy southerly cell and binary characters “00” writteninto two southerly idle cells and wherein TD remains set to south.

The 6^(th) pad shows binary characters “0101” written into adjacentcells from the last written cell traversing south, south west and west.After the last binary character “1” is written TD is changed to north.

The 7^(th) pad shows binary characters “0110” written in cells from thelast written cell and traversing north, north, east, south. After thelast binary character “1” is written, TD is changed to south and thenext idle cell is selected along the south line through the boundary (asshown by the south pointing arrow).

The 8^(th) pad shows binary character “0111” written as: “0” in the nextidle cell; traversing south three cells and writing “1”; changing TD toeast and traversing east one cell to write “1”, changing TD to north andtraversing three cells to write “1”; changing TD to east and traversingtwo cells to find the next idle cell.

The 9^(th) pad shows binary characters “0001” written as “1” in the nextidle cell and changing TD to south. However, there are no idle cells inthe north south lines of cells so TD is changed again to west. Two cellsare traversed west and “0” written, traverse west one cell and “0” iswritten, traverse west one cell and “0” is written. Traversing westtouches the boundary so starting from east side of the east west linetraversing two cells west to find the a new idle cell.

The 10^(th) pad shows binary characters “1001” written as “1” in the newidle cell and changing TD to north. Traversing north touches theboundary so from the south side of the column and traversing north onecell to find an idle cell for writing “0”. North one cell and “0” iswritten. North one cell and “1” is written, TD is changed to east andthe new idle cell is one cell east as shown by the east pointing arrow.

The 11^(th) pad shows binary characters “1010” written as “1” in the newidle cell, changing TD to south and traversing south one cell. “0” iswritten and one cell traversed south. “1” is written, TD is changed towest, and five cells traverse west. “0” is written and one celltraversed west to the new idle cell. TD is west as shown by the westpointing arrow in the new idle cell.

The 12^(th) pad shows binary characters “1011” written as “1” in the newidle cell, changing TD to north and traversing one cell. “0” is writtenand one cell traversed north. “1” is written, TD is changed to east andone cell traversed east “1” is written, TD is changed to south and onecell traversed south to the new idle cell. TD is south as shown by thesouth pointing arrow in the new idle cell.

The 13^(th) pad shows binary characters “1100” written as “1” in the newidle cell, changing TD to west and traversing west two cells. “1” iswritten, TD is changed to north and one cell traversed north. “0” iswritten and one cell traversed north. “0” is written and one celltraversed north to the new idle cell. TD is north as shown by the northpointing arrow in the new idle cell.

The 14^(th) pad show binary characters “1101” written as “1” in the newidle cell, changing TD to east and traversing one cell east. “1” iswritten, TD is changed to south and one cell traversed south. “0” iswritten and three cells traversed south from the north end of thecolumn. “1” is written, TD is changed to west and one cell traversedwest to the new idle cell. TD is west as shown by the west pointingarrow in the new idle cell.

The 15^(th) pad shows binary characters “1110” written as “1” in the newidle cell, changing TD to north and traversing to the only idle cell atthe south of the north south line. “1” is written, TD is changed to eastand searching the row east to find no idle cells, searching the columnsouth to find no idle cells. Traversing one cell west and searching thecolumn north and traversing four cells north. “1” is written, TD ischanged east and moving one cell east. Writing “0”, traversing fourcells west to the new idle cell. TD is west as shown by the west pointarrow in the new idle cell.

The 16^(th) pad shows binary characters “1111” written as “1” in the newidle cell, changing TD to north and traversing one cell north, “1” iswritten and TD changed to east but no idle cells are located in the eastline. TD is changed to south and traversing to the only idle cell in thecolumn. “1” is written and TD changed to west and traversing to the onlyidle cell in the row. “1” is written and there are no more binarycharacters to write.

Serializing the binary characters from top to bottom (north to south)and from left to right (west to east) renders an encoded string“000000010001011011110110111100010011100101111011101000001101010 1”.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show states of an example pad as it is used to decodethe encoded stream to the stream of the example of FIG. 5A. Sixteen padsare shown numbered 1 to 16. A compass points north on the page.

The first stage is to de-serialize the encoded string by writing it intoa pad. As can be seen in pad state 1 of FIG. 7A the encoded string hasbeen written from left to right and from top to bottom.

Decoding uses the opposite method to encoding. The encoding methodtraverses the cells in a pad until an idle cell is reached whereby abinary character is written into the idle cell and changes its status tobusy. In contrast the decoding method traverses a pad until a busy cellis reached, a character is read and the cell status changed to idle.

The 1^(st) pad state shows a mostly full pad with a horizontal line of“0000” binary characters having been read from initial position 1 (topleft corner) with a cursor pointing east at the end of the line. Thiscorresponds to reading the first character of the binary number “0” onthe pad starting at initial position (IP)=1 and moving in an initialdirection of east (with north defined as straight up the pad as shown).The next cell is determined by traversing east to locate a busy cell.The method loops back to the reading step whereby the 2^(nd) character“0” is read. This is repeated two more times as busy cells aredetermined east and east again such that “0000” is read in a continuousline running east. The TD direction (see arrow in pad 1) remains set toeast.

In the 2^(nd) pad state the next busy cell is determined as an eastcell. The 2^(nd) pad state shows a horizontal blocked line of “0001”having been read from four east cells from the last position (referencedby the cursor from the 1^(st) pad state). This corresponds to readingthe first character of the number “0001” on the pad starting at initialposition (IP)=5 and moving in an initial direction of east. The nextcell is determined by traversing east and finding a busy cell. Themethod loops back to the reading step whereby the 2^(nd) character “0”is read from the cell. This is repeated two more times as busy cells aredetermined east and east again such that “0001” is read in a continuousline running east. However, searching for the first busy cell for thenext sequence of binary characters is not started easterly because thelast read was a “1” and the example rule is to change directionclockwise on reading “1”. Therefore the TD direction (see arrow) ischanged to south by incrementing a direction pointer. Coincidently theedge of the boundary was reached and the direction would have alsochanged clockwise in this example to avoid the boundary.

In the 3^(rd) pad state the next busy cell is one cell south. The 3^(rd)pad shows binary characters “0010” being read by traversing south threecells and west one cell (see FIG. 7B). This corresponds to reading thefirst, second and third characters of the string “0010” with thedirection set to south whereupon reading a “1” then incrementing thedirection to west. The next cells are determined by traversing andfinding a busy cell in the direction of the traverse. The method loopsback to the reading step whereby the 4^(nd) character “0” is read andthe TD remains pointing west.

In the 4^(th) pad state the next busy cell is one cell west. The 4^(th)pad shows binary characters “0011” having been read from busy cellstraversing west three cells, north one cell and changing TD to eastbecause the northern cell was idle.

In the 5^(th) pad state the next busy cell is one cell east. The 5^(th)pad shows binary characters “01” read from two easterly idle cells;incrementing TD to south because of a “1” character; skipping a singlebusy southerly cell and reading binary characters “00” from twosoutherly idle cells and wherein TD remains set to south.

The 6^(th) pad shows binary characters “0101” read from adjacent cellsfrom the last read cell traversing south, then south west and west.After the last binary character “1” is read TD is changed to north.

The 7^(th) pad shows binary characters “0110” read from cells from thelast read cell and traversing north, then north, east, and south. Afterthe last binary character “1” is read, TD is changed to south.

In the 8^(th) pad, the next busy cell is selected along the south linethrough the boundary (as shown by the south point arrow in the 7^(th)pad. The 8^(th) pad shows binary characters “0111” read as: “0” in thenext idle cell; traversing south three cells and reading “1”; changingTD to east and traversing east one cell to read “1”, changing TD tonorth and traversing three cells to read “1”; changing TD to east.

In the 9^(th) pad, the method traverses two cells to find the next busycell. The 9^(th) pad shows binary characters “0001” read as “1” in thenext busy cell and changing TD to south. However, there are no busycells in the north south lines of cells so TD is changed again to west.Two cells are traversed west and “0” read, traverse west one cell and“0” is read, traverse west one cell and “0” is read.

In the 10^(th) pad, the method starts from east side of the east westline traversing two cells west to find the a new busy cell becausetraversing west touches the boundary. The 10^(th) pad shows binarycharacters “1001” read as “1” in the new busy cell and changing TD tonorth. Traversing north touches the boundary so starting from the southside of the column and traversing north one cell and “0” is read. Northone cell and “0” is written. North one cell, “1” is written, TD ischanged to east.

In the 11^(th) pad, the new busy cell is one cell east as shown by thelast arrow (pointing east) from the 10^(th) pad. The 11th pad showsbinary characters “1010” read as “1” in the new idle cell, changing TDto south and traversing south one cell. “0” is read and one celltraversed south. “1” is read, TD is changed to west, and five cellstraverse west. “0” is read and one cell traversed west to the new idlecell. TD is west as shown by the west pointing arrow.

The 12^(th) pad shows binary characters “1011” read as “1” from the newbusy cell, changing TD to north and traversing one cell. “0” is read andone cell traversed north. “1” is read, TD is changed to east and onecell traversed east. “1” is read, TD is changed to south and one celltraversed south to the new busy cell. TD is south as shown by the southpointing arrow.

The 13^(th) pad shows binary characters “1100” read as “1” in the newbusy cell, changing TD to west and traversing west two cells. “1” isread, TD is changed to north and one cell traversed north. “0” is readand one cell traversed north. “0” is read and one cell traversed northto the new busy cell. TD is north.

The 14^(th) pad show binary characters “1101” read as “1” in the newbusy cell, changing TD to east and traversing one cell east. “1” isread, TD is changed to south and one cell traversed south. “0” is readand three cells traversed south from the north end of the column. “1” isread, TD is changed to west.

The 15^(th) pad shows binary characters “1110” read as “1” in the newbusy cell, changing TD to north and traversing to the only busy cell atthe south of the north south line. “1” is read, TD is changed to eastand searching the row east to find no busy cells, searching the columnsouth to find no busy cells. Traversing one cell west and searching thecolumn north and traversing four cells north. “1” is read, TD is changedeast and moving one cell east. “0” is read before traversing four cellswest to the new busy cell. TD is west.

The 16^(th) pad shows binary characters “1111” read as “1” in the newbusy cell, changing TD to north and traversing one cell north, “1” isread and TD changed to east but no busy cells are located in the eastline. TD is changed to south and traversing to the only busy cell in thecolumn. “1” is read and TD changed to west and traversing to the onlybusy cell in the row. “1” is read and there are no more binarycharacters to read.

At the first point the output string contains all the read characters inthe special order presented by the decoder and this is the same as theoriginal input string that was first coded.

Further embodiments of the invention are now described. It will be clearto one of ordinary skill in the art that all or part of the logicalprocess steps of the embodiment may be alternatively embodied in a logicapparatus, or a plurality of logic apparatus, comprising logic elementsarranged to perform the logical process steps of the method and thatsuch logic elements may comprise hardware components, firmwarecomponents or a combination thereof.

It will be equally clear to one of skill in the art that all or part ofthe logic components of the embodiment may be alternatively embodied inlogic apparatus comprising logic elements to perform the steps of themethod, and that such logic elements may comprise components such aslogic gates in, for example, a programmable logic array orapplication-specific integrated circuit. Such a logic arrangement mayfurther be embodied in enabling elements for temporarily or permanentlyestablishing logic structures in such an array or circuit using, forexample, a virtual hardware descriptor language, which may be stored andtransmitted using fixed or transmittable carrier media.

In a further alternative embodiment, the present invention may berealized in the form of a computer implemented method of deploying aservice comprising steps of deploying computer program code operable to,when deployed into a computer infrastructure and executed thereon, causethe computer system to perform all the steps of the method.

It will be appreciated that the method and components of the embodimentmay alternatively be embodied fully or partially in a parallel computingsystem comprising two or more processors for executing parallelsoftware.

A further embodiment of the invention is a computer program productdefined in terms of a system and method. The computer program productmay include a computer-readable storage medium (or media) havingcomputer-readable program instructions thereon for causing a processorto carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer-readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (for example, lightpulses passing through a fibre-optic cable), or electrical signalstransmitted through a wire.

Computer-readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibres, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer-readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer-readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer-readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the C programminglanguage or similar programming languages. The computer readable programinstructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on theuser's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection may be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments,electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logiccircuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logicarrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions byutilizing state information of the computer readable programinstructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order toperform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the embodiments are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products. It will be understood thateach block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, andcombinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or blockdiagrams, can be implemented by computer-readable program instructions.

These computer-readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer-readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that thecomputer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereincomprises an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/orblock diagram block or blocks.

The computer-readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

It will be clear to one skilled in the art that many improvements andmodifications can be made to the foregoing exemplary embodiment withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An encoding system, comprising: a writingengine for writing a character to a cell of a multi-dimensional shape; adetermination engine for determining a next empty cell by traversingneighboring cells in the multi-dimensional shape until an empty cell islocated; a loop facilitator for repeating the writing and determiningfor at least one additional character; and a serialization engine forserializing the cells into a one dimensional string of charactersrepresenting an encoded string of alphanumeric characters.
 2. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein traversing comprises moving from thecurrent cell in a current direction to a new cell, and wherein the newcell is the next cell if the new cell is an empty cell otherwisetraversing again until an empty cell is located.
 3. The system accordingto claim 1, further comprising changing a direction of traversing tolocate an empty cell.
 4. The system according to claim 1, furthercomprising traversing to adjacent cells to locate a next cell, but if noneighboring cells are empty, then traversing to a non-neighboring cellto locate an empty cell.
 5. The system according to claim 1, furthercomprising changing a current direction of traversing if a particularcharacter has been written.
 6. The system according to claim 1, furthercomprising using a different direction if traversing in a currentdirection would cross the boundary of the multi-dimensional shape. 7.The system according to claim 6, wherein the current direction changesto an opposite direction if the current direction would hit the edge ofthe multi-dimensional shape.
 8. An encoding method, comprising: writinga character to an empty cell of a multi-dimensional shape; determining anext empty cell by traversing neighboring cells in the multidimensionalshape until an empty cell is located; repeating the writing anddetermining for at least one additional character; and serializing themulti-dimensional cells into a one dimensional string of charactersrepresenting an encoded string of alphanumeric characters.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the traversing comprises moving from thecurrent cell in a current direction to a new cell, and wherein the newcell is the next cell if the new cell is an empty cell otherwisetraversing again until an empty cell is located.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 8, further comprising changing a direction oftraversing to locate an empty cell.
 11. The method according to claim 8,further comprising traversing to adjacent cells to locate a next cell,but if no neighboring cells are empty, then traversing to anon-neighboring cell to locate an empty cell.
 12. The method accordingto claim 8, further comprising changing a current direction if aparticular character has been written.
 13. The method according to claim8, further comprising using a different direction if traversing in acurrent direction would cross the boundary of the multi-dimensionalshape.
 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the currentdirection changes to an opposite direction if the current directionwould hit the edge of the multi-dimensional shape.
 15. The methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the multi-dimensional shape is a rectanglehaving width and height or a honeycomb matrix of six sided cells. 16.The method according to claim 8, wherein the cells have an initialfilled in pattern.
 17. A computer program stored on a computer readablemedium and loadable into the internal memory of a digital computer,comprising software code portions, when the program is run on acomputer, for performing the method of claim
 8. 18. A method of decodinga string of characters representing an encoded string of alphanumericcharacters comprising: populating cells of a multi-dimensional shapewith characters; reading a character from a current cell, writing thecharacter to an output string, and setting the current cell to empty;determining a next full cell by traversing from the current cell toadjacent cells in the multi-dimensional shape until a full cell islocated; repeating the reading and determining for at least oneadditional character; and serializing the cells of the multi-dimensionalshape into a string of characters representing an encoded string ofalphanumeric characters.
 19. A computer program stored on a computerreadable medium and loadable into the internal memory of a digitalcomputer, comprising software code portions, when the program is run ona computer, for performing the method of claim 18.